Today, let us rejoice in the glorious birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us join St Gregory the Theologian and say with a joyful voice, “Christ is born, let us glorify Him. Christ came from heaven let us go out to meet Him.” With the angels, we glorify Christ, because He came to our world bearing the joyous message. Therefore, let us go out to meet Him to see what does He want to say to us?
St Paul the Apostle wrote in his letter to Hebrews, “God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things through whom also He made the worlds.” (Heb. 1:1-2) St John also said, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” (Jn. 1:18) Christ came to reveal God’s will for us: “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:4), and the angel said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Lk. 2: 10-11) We rejoice because of the message of salvation, and we bless God with St Paul the Apostle saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” (Eph. 1:3-4) Our Lord Jesus Christ came from heaven bearing the message of reconciliation with God, “that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:19) Through His coming, His death on the cross, and His resurrection, Christ is calling us to a new life, “and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Cor. 5:15)
God has spoken to us and He still speaks to us. Do we hear His voice? Can we distinguish His voice? Are we like the good sheep that know the voice of their shepherd and have discernment to distinguish between His voice and the voice of the strangers? “…and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” (Jn. 10:3-5)
In our present days, we hear many voices. So how can we hear God’s voice and how can we discern between our Good Shepherd’s voice and the voices of strangers? We need many things, but most importantly we need:
1. Trained Senses: St Paul the Apostle tells us, “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Heb. 5:14) God talks to us through daily events. The voice of God is the voice of goodness, whereas the voice of strangers is the voice of evil. Those who have the trained senses can hear the voice of God through the daily events. Joseph the righteous heard God’s voice through the events that happened in his life, and he told his brothers, “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Gen. 50:20) Also, when David the prophet went to take revenge against Nabal, Abigail went out to meet him. When she asked him not to take revenge for himself, he considered that what she told him was God’s voice speaking to him. He told her, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this very day! And blessed is your conduct and blessed are you, because today you kept me from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself.” (1 Sam. 25: 32-33)
2. The Pure Heart: Sin prevents a person from hearing God’s voice. St Paul said, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (2 Tim. 4:3) When desire entered Eve’s heart, she listened to the voice of the serpent and closed her ears to hearing God’s commandment. The Holy Scriptures tells us, “So when the woman saw the tree was good for food, was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree beautiful to contemplate, she took its fruit and ate. She also gave it to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Gen. 3:6) Was this not the same tree, which she saw daily? The tree did not change, but rather her view of it changed: her sight changed from a pure look to one of desire. Therefore, “When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:15) Joseph the chaste refused to listen to the voice of evil and in the purity of his heart said, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Gen. 39: 9)
3. Readiness to Hear God’s Voice: God speaks to us when we have the genuine desire to hear His voice. God called Samuel three times, and every time Samuel thought it was Eli the priest calling him. The fourth time when God said, “Samuel, Samuel”, he responded, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” (1 Sam. 3:10) It was then that God spoke to him. God does not compel us, but speaks to us when we have willing ears to hear His voice. He, who has ears, let him hear.
4. Silence and Tranquility: God’s voice is gentle. We cannot hear His voice, except when we are silent and tranquil. A person needs to calm himself so he can hear God’s voice. When God spoke to Elijah, He was neither in the powerful wind nor in the earthquake or fire. Rather, God’s voice came after the sound of a gentle breeze (1 Kings 19: 12).
Let us pray that God may give us trained senses, pure hearts, and readiness to hear His joyful voice full of delight.
His Grace Bishop Serapion is Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles (www.lacopts.org)